1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to motorcycle stands, specifically to stands used to secure the front wheel of motorcycles for parking or transport.
2. Discussion of Prior Art
It is often desirable to park a motorcycle in a vertical position as opposed to leaning it over on its side stand. A few of the reasons for parking a motorcycle in a vertical position follow:
1) For safely transporting the motorcycle in a truck or on a trailer
2) For conserving space as in a garage or on a showroom floor
3) For parking racing motorcycles or track bikes where stands mounted to the machines are prohibited
4) For working on the motorcycle or for cleaning where the left side would be hard to access on a side stand
Years ago most motorcycles came equipped with center stands as well as side stands. While the center stand has not completely disappeared on the modern motorcycle, it is getting much less common. Even when the center stand is included on a motorcycle, it is not adequate support for transporting the motorcycle.
Most modern motorcycles come with full fairings that cover up traditional places to attach tie-down straps. Also, the handle bars of most modern bikes do not protrude beyond the fairing to provide a connecting point for straps. The strapping down of the motorcycle's front end requires compressing the suspension components, which is not recommended for most modern motorcycles. These factors make transporting modern motorcycles in traditional ways both impractical and inappropriate.
Placing the motorcycle on its center stand doesn't help conserve space because the rider must first apply the side stand, leave room to dismount, and then pull the bike up on its center stand. Now the bike is in its same original track as when dismounted and just further back by virtue of the camming action common to center stand design. To make the center stand even less useful is the weight of many new models of motorcycles. Currently there are motorcycles with horizontally opposed six-cylinder motors in excess of 1800 cc and huge two-cylinder motors in excess of 2000 cc. Weights for these large machines are in excess of 400 kg.
One other reason for some means of holding a motorcycle in a vertical position is for the racing or track bike. These machines are prohibited from having either a side stand or center stand of any type.
What is needed is a front wheel stand suitable for holding a motorcycle where front tie-downs are not practical with enough support and stability to park or transport the motorcycle.
Historically, bicycle and motorcycle stands have been designed to use the bike's weight to help hold the bike into the stand or up against a vertical support. For example, the bicycle stand in U.S. Pat. No. 458,974 To Merrell 1891 Sep. 1 uses the teeter-totter design as a cam, thus using the weight-overcenter principle to help hold the bicycle into the stand. This same teeter-totter principle is still being used in various forms to essentially deliver the same results for motorcycles. For example, the motorcycle parking stand in U.S. Pat. No. 6,640,979 B1 To Mayfield 2003 Nov. 4 again uses the same weight-overcenter principle to use the bike's weight to help secure the front wheel against a vertical support. This weight-overcenter design works to hold the bike into the stand to some extent.
However, there are three major problems shared more or less by all the various stands using the weight-overcenter principle. The problems include the following:
1) It is hard to push heavy modern touring-type motorcycles into these stands because these motorcycles must be pushed up and over the elevated pivot point.
2) For the same reasons and especially for riders with shorter legs, it is hard to pull the same heavy motorcycles out of these stands.
One typical example of the type of teeter-totter stand under discussion is the stand of International Patent WO9638336 To Childs and Fry 1996 Dec. 5. This stand uses the very same principle to load the motorcycle but uses a hand lever attached to the teeter-totter to assist in removing the bike. This feature requires two people to operate, however. As the motorcycle cannot be safely balanced and controlled by one person while lifting the lever from the front side of the wheel in order to back the bike up and over the elevated pivot.
3) These stands are difficult for a rider to see when sitting on a motorcycle with a full fairing. Therefore, hitting the entry shoe with the front wheel becomes a difficult task. Pushing a bike from the side is very hazardous because a modern touring motorcycle can weigh well in excess of 400 kg. A lean of just a few degrees off center, especially when the motorcycle leans away from the operator, will result in a very expensive incident.